There are plenty of signs that the controversy over the George W Bush's election to the presidency will not be allowed to fade.

In Florida, several organisations are applying to carry out their own counts of the disputed votes.

In Third World countries, when democratically cast votes are not counted we usually refer to that as a coup d'etat

Jesse Jackson Junior

And leaders of America's black community - which overwhelmingly supported Mr Gore - have vehemently denounced the Federal Supreme Court ruling to block the hand recounts.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson is promising mass non-violent protest, while the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) says it will file lawsuits over alleged irregularities in the voting in Florida.

Examine the ballots

A number of news organisations and public-interest groups have applied to carry out their own recounts in Florida, including the Miami Herald newspaper.

The paper says in its Thursday online edition that it is seeking access to 10,750 ballots in the predominantly Democrat county of Miami-Dade.

The paper's executive editor, Martin Baron, says it is not intending to declare who it thinks should have been declared the winner.

We may well be witnessing the greatest mass disenfranchisement of African Americans since 1965

Congressman Charles Rangel

"Our intent is to examine the ballots and describe in detail what they show," Mr Baron said.

"People can come to their own conclusions."

Lawyers for Miami-Dade County will not try to block the recount, the Miami Herald says.

The recount is certain to catch the attention of the 38 Democrat members of the federal Congressional Black Causus.

"We may well be witnessing the greatest mass disenfranchisement of African Americans since passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965," Congressman Clarles Rangel said.

Bush's appeal for unity falls on stony ground

The Federal Justice Department is currently investigating complaints that black voters in Florida were prevented from voting by police road blocks and that votes in some predominantly black areas were never counted.

"People of colour are more energized and angrier than ever to make sure they are not counted out again," NAACP president Kweisi Mfume told reporters on Wednesday.

The NAACP spent some $12m in persuading black voters to turn out.

Mr Mfume said that on 15 January - Martin Luther King Day - the NAACP would begin a massive 18 month campaign to maximise turn out in mid-term elections, when the Republicans' narrow hold on Congress will come under threat.

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson said protests would be organised throughout America,

"We will continue our quest to get the votes counted," he said.

His son, Jesse Jackson Junior, a Democrat Congressman for Illinois, said Mr Bush's team had organised a "velvet legal coup".

"In Third World countries, when democratically cast votes are not counted or the person who most likely lost wins in a highly questionable manner, we usually refer to that as a coup d'etat," he said.